Hubert Willis (1862 – 13 December 1933) was a British actor best known for his recurring role as Doctor Watson in a series of silent Sherlock Holmes films co-starring with Eille Norwood.
Stage career
Willis appeared in the copyright performance of William Gillette's play Sherlock Holmes (1899) in an unknown role. He played Planchette and Lavrille in Never Again at the Vaudeville Theatre (1897) opposite Allan Aynesworth.J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1890-1899: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books pg. 358 Captain Welsh opposite Robert Taber in Bonnie Dundee at the Adelphi Theatre (1900);J. P. Wearing, The London Stage 1900-1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel, Rowman & Littlefield (2014) - Google Books pg. 8 Brother Jerome in The Sacrament of Judas at the Comedy Theatre (1901);Wearing, pg. 58 Rushey Platt, MP in Love in Idleness at Terry's Theatre (1902).Wearing, pg. 103 Dick Snaresby in Brown at Brighton at the Avenue Theatre (1903);Wearing, pg. 124 Mullins in the original stage production of Peter Pan at the Duke of York's Theatre (1904) opposite Gerald du Maurier as Captain Hook/Mr. Darling and Nina Boucicault as Peter Pan;Bruce K. Hanson, Peter Pan on Stage and Screen, 1904-2010, 2d ed.. McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers (2011) - Google Books pg. 336 Jenkins in Castles in Spain at the Royalty Theatre (1906);Wearing, pg. 289 Dubois in The Hon'ble Phil opposite G. P. Huntley at Hicks Theatre (1908);Wearing, pg. 429 Mr. Curry in The Test at the Court Theatre (1906).Wearing, pg. 445 and Village Handyman in The Man with his Back to the East at the Court Theatre (1912).'Dramatic Gossip' - The Athenaeum, No. 4442, 14 December 1912, pg. 740
Sherlock Holmes films
Willis made his first film appearance as Shelton in the silent film The House of Temperley (1913), an adaptation of Rodney Stone by Arthur Conan Doyle. Between 1921 and 1923 he played Dr. Watson in 44 short films and one full length film opposite Eille Norwood as Sherlock Holmes including The Hound of the Baskervilles (1921) and in three series of 15 episodes each in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1921); in The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1922), and in The Last Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (1923). In the episode The Sign of Four (1923) Willis was replaced by Arthur Cullin as Dr. Watson.Hubert Willis in The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia
Personal life In 1892, Willis married (Harriet) Annie Godfrey (1861), an actress, and together they had a daughter, Winifred, who also became an actress.Silent fiction films, 1895-1930, National Film Archive (Great Britain), British Film Institute, 1966, p. 115The Cambridge Review, vol. 24, Cambridge Review Committee, St. John's College, 1903, p. 106Sherlock Holmes on the Screen: The Motion Picture Adventures of the World's Most Popular Detective, Robert W. Pohle and Douglas C. Hart, A. S. Barnes, 1977, p. 85 He lived at 39 Marlborough Crescent in Bedford Park, Chiswick, West London. Willis died in December 1933, leaving £4,105 1s 4d in his will.Gov.uk Find a Will service, Surname: Willis, Year of Death: 1934, URL= https://probatesearch.service.gov.uk/#wills
Selected filmography A Message From Mars (1913) Liberty Hall (1914) The MiddleMan (1915) The King's Daughter (1916) The Mother of Dartmoor (1916) Partners at Last (1916) His Daughter's Dilemma (1916) A Gamble for Love (1917) Justice (1917) The Manxman (1917) The Manchester Man (1920) Lady Audley's Secret (1920) The Pursuit of Pamela (1920) The Duchess of Seven Dials (1920)
References
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